Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted for the first time that he will have to answer for the military failure that occurred on October 7, when Hamas caught the IDF by surprise and invaded southern Israel, murdering over 1,400 people.
“This failure will have to be investigated to the last degree. Everyone will have to give answers,” he said. “Myself included.”
The admission came on the 19th day of the war, after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other top brass in the military had already admitted to one of the biggest military fiascoes since the creation of the state.
“Citizens of Israel, October 7 was a black day in our history,” but the issue of accountability can only occur after the war is over, Netanyahu said.
"Everyone will have to give answers, myself included."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the October 7 Massacre
“As prime minister I am responsible for securing the future of the country, and now my role is to lead the State of Israel and the people to a crushing victory over our enemies.
“Now is the time to join forces for one goal: to charge forward to victory,” Netanyahu said.
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Netanyahu spoke during a public address in which he pledged an IDF ground campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza. He didn’t, however, give a start date. Earlier in the day the Wall Street Journal reported that the US had pressured Israel to delay a Gaza ground campaign.
“We are preparing for ground entry. I will not detail when, how and how much, nor the set of considerations that we take into account, the vast majority of which are not known to the public at all - and it should be,” Netanyahu said.
US President Joe Biden told reporters in Washington that he had pointed out to Netanyahu the wisdom of holding off on a ground invasion to see if he could first secure the release of the hostages.
“I have indicated that if it’s possible to get the folks out safely, that is what he should do,” Biden said.
In Israel, Netanyahu stressed in his public address that, “We are in the midst of a battle for our existence.” Netanyahu spoke after the security cabinet met on the 19th day of the war as the question of a ground campaign has slowly become more a question of not when, but if.
There are two goals to the war, Netanyahu said.
The first is to “eliminate Hamas by destroying its military and governmental capabilities, and to do everything possible to return our captives home,” he emphasized.
Biden also said he had “no notion” that the Palestinians were telling the truth about how many had been killed. “I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.”
Defense Minister Gallant, Minister Benny Gantz, the Security Cabinet, the IDF Chief of Staff and the heads of the defense branches have worked around the clock to organize a victorious military campaign, he said.
“We do this without political considerations. What stands before our eyes is only one thing – saving the country, the achievement of victory,” Netanyahu said.